I'll say one thing. A year ago you would have never expected to see this many scrolls on a Turbo game. This is an above average shooter with some extra features such as multiple power-ups and the ability to turn around when you reach a boss. A good addition to the Turbo library.

The stages are uneven in terms of visual quality. The multi-layered, picturesque city in the first stage looks terrific, but the subsequent moon and cave stages are far less interesting. Enemies tend to take the form of simple shapes, but a few of the bosses, like the skeletal bird with the beating heart, are quite interesting. The uptempo music is okay but not exceptional. Dead Moon won't blow you away, but repeated plays reveal a well-constructed shooter that most shooter fans will really appreciate.

Dead Moon is definitively a game that slipped through the cracks or popularity. Underneath its fairly generic surface lurks a decent and fun shooter. It features good graphics and an impressive parallax scrolling (which uses up to six levels!) - the third stage (moon surface) is definitively a true piece of technical achievement. But most of all, playability is fantastic and the difficulty overall feels well balanced. So why is Dead Moon never featured in the top list of shooters for the system ? Well, although the game's levels have a nice logical progression (from the Earth to the Moon), some argue that level variation is generic and rather bland compared to other AAA shooters for the system, and that the game doesn't really stand out from the crowd. But I think Dead Moon is more than correct, the gameplay is extremely fast and I recommend it to shooter fans out there.

If you're a video sharpshooter out to carve another notch in your controller, you might want to aim your sights on Dead Moon.

60

Defunct Games

Longevity is going to be the problem, as you can probably guess. Six levels and unlimited continues should let even weaker players knock this one off without much work. As compared to other shooters available for the TurboGrafx-16, it certainly isn't the worst, but it doesn't have any freshness to make it especially attractive.

It's fun, but maybe a little too simplistic for some gamers. Of course, if you're in the market for the next best turbochip shooter with impressive graphics, tons of enemies, cool weapons, and a day or two long challenge, Dead Moon is worth checking out.

The big question mark for me was the game's longevity. With only six levels to play and unlimited continues, this game could use some more tweaking. It's not pushing the memory limit of the system, so there isn't any reason an addition of several levels couldn't be made. Otherwise, hard-core shooter fans should suppress a yawn.

Just to let you know, the final boss is a giant . . . wait for it . . . skeleton. Too bad it’s not a chicken. I would have given the game a higher score if it was. As it stands, Dead Moon sucks. It’s not unplayable, but it certainly isn’t worth playing.